William Theobald

He arrived in Calcutta on the ship Hindostan via the Suez in March 1847 and worked as a volunteer in the coal exploration of the upper Damodar and Son valleys under David Williams.

[3] Theobald was the first to publish a full catalogue of reptile specimens collected in British India, Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India (1876),[4] although Anderson claimed that several new descriptions by Edward Blyth were overlooked by this work.

[5] He even made his shell collections available to Francis Mason for his epic work on the flora and fauna of British Burma titled Burmah, its People and Natural Productions.

The third edition of this work was completely rewritten by Theobald and was published in two volumes under the title Burma, its people and productions; or notes on the fauna, flora and minerals of Tenasserim, Pegu and Burma (Hertford, England, 1882 & 1883).

He also relied on Le Maout's and Decaisne's general system of botany translated by Mrs. Hooker and on Gamble's Manual of Indian Timbers.